michael1

I'd think that is just another object sitting there capable of collecting grass or weeds

When tying most any knot we are told to leave a little extra and not cut the tag end too close to the knot as pictured below. As I was tying a knot today I was wondering, have any of you had a situation where it "saved" you? I guess the only way you would know is if you always leave extra and after catching a fish you realized it was almost gone and the knot had moved or whatever.

When you say 9:00 are you saying on the same side as your reel handle or opposite?

Yes, but where on the spinning rod would you place it?

Again, for my situation we are talking about a spinning rod and the reel is set up for LH. By saying 3 o'clock you are saying the opposite direction as the reel handle in my situation, correct? My rod is a split grip, do you personally like above or below the reel?

I haven't used a spinning rod in years and broke down and bought a 7' M Expride. Only downside of this rod is the lack of a factory hook keeper. I am going to go with a Fuji hook keeper and really have no idea or experience with spinning rods to have a good idea where to "position" the hook keeper. If you have the rod in your hand do you normally put it at 12, 3, 6 or 9 o'clock? Something different? Above or below the reel? If it helps in your description I have my reel set up with left handed. Thanks in advance for the advice! Hoping to shorten any trial and error if possible. Those hook keepers are not the easiest to get on so I would like to put it on once and be done with it.

Something I am curious about. Let's say I but a 3/16 shakey head. Does that weight refer to the weight of "just" the head or the total weight of the whole thing including hook?

I bought a new Shimano Vanford and will be spooling it up for the first time. I will be putting a mono backing down and then finish it off with 15lb 832 braid. I can put it on easily enough but I have read some on here talking about after spooling the reel taking the spool off and letting it sit in warm water for a bit. Is this just an old wife's tale or does it really do some good? If so warm water and not hot? Let it sit in there about how long? Are there any parts or pieces of the spool that should not be exposed to sitting in water that long?

I have read this many times and still have no idea. I am in this situation myself and have no idea how to go about setting it up properly from the get go. I'd rather not have to catch 20 different fish and have to go through a bunch of trial and error if there is a simple way to do this.

I had always heard of the Bucca baby shad but had no idea there was a blue gill size. Is one size (the shad size or the bigger blue gill) more popular than the other? Any personal experience with either?

Interesting

Normally when I fish a wacky worm I put the hook EXACTLY in the middle of the worm, where if you were to pull the ends of the worm down together they would line up perfectly. More or less right at 50%. I have been watching some tips from the pros and have seen some of them rig it up with the hook put in at say 33% down from the head where the the other 66% of the worm is from the hook to the tail end of the worm. I know neither would be considered "right or wrong" but I am curious what most of you guys do?

When putting line on a spinning reel you want the line to come off the UNDER side of spool, correct?

I have owned bait casters and put line on them for years. The other day I finally broke down and bought a spinning reel. I'm getting ready to put line on and I realized I do not have a real idea of a stopping point. Is there sort of a rule of thumb when judging filling it up all the way but not over doing it?

I live in Missouri and Tuesday I am heading with a buddy to do some fishing in Kansas. How much is a KS license for a MO resident to buy? I assume I can just go to a Walmart in KS and get it?

Growing up I have never used these types of bobbers, with the spring on the bottom shaft, and I have some in an old tackle box and need to put it on my son's rod with nightcrawler. How do you rig one of these up?

Interesting. If people are getting away from MH/F for bladed jigs they seem to be going softer, ie composite or glass. You are going the other way to H/F. What is your thought process here?

A buddy of mine is taking his 7 year old son fishing tomorrow. Has like a Zebco 33 or whatever looking to do some worm and bobber fishing for blue gill or bass, whatever is biting. He asked me what size/style hook to buy and what size bobber. I can't give him the "specs" as what to buy but would know it when I see it if I were there. Can some of you tell me specifically what size and all to buy?

Obviously. I was asking why a lot people view them as two different types of baits that some people use different rod types for. I view them as similar and certainly similar enough to view them as the same rod type.

I have always been of a mind I would throw a single hook bait on graphite MH firm rod, MAYBE a H in certain circumstances. So for me that would mean I would use something like this for a chatter bait or a spinner bait. Now I read a lot about guys going to a glass or composite road for chatter baits but not so much for spinner baits. Do you view the two baits as different really?

That is an interesting way to look at it, choosing the MH or H based upon the amount/type of obstruction around. I agree with this type of presentation casting distance is not normally a real concern. Will I notice much of a difference in "feel" or how I should approach the hook set based on which rod I were to use?

Took some stimulus money and treated myself to (at least for me) 2 expensive rods. Both 7'2" Shimano Exprides one being the MH and the other the H. When I bought them I envisioned using the MH and an all around and soft plastic bottom contact rod. While I don't do much frog fishing I will use the H for that but it's primary use will be as my jig rod. Mostly I will use 3/8 or 1/2 with a trailer on it. I read a lot on here about guys talking about how great the MH was for this and now I am worrying I may have made a mistake in which I bought for this. I am going to take both out tomorrow and see what I think but unless I catch a lot of them I don't think I will be able to come up with much of an opinion. It looks like a 3/8 is a bit below the recommended weight of the H model so I am a bit concerned. For those of you who are more of an experienced jig fisherman than I what would I notice about fishing the H that would be telling me the MH is a better option? Does it have to do with casting? Rod bend while working the jig? A certain characteristic when setting the hook or retrieving a fish?

Taking the wife and 2 kids to do a little bank fishing tomorrow afternoon. Supposed to be around 70, sunny and pretty darn windy and want to give them the best chance at some action. What do you think, being windy and sunny moving baits with lots of flash? Throw into the wind, with the wind or straight down the bank and retrieve shallow? Just want to give them the best chance at having success and some advice would be great.

I have to agree. I had one and I know they need to be forgiving but they were almost like a wet noodle. Glad A-Jay turned me on to the KVD Tour composite rod! Great for lipless and square bills and I got it cheaper too! As for trying to double as a j-bait rod I mean you COULD do it but I would not recommend it. Ideally you want a more responsive rod as you want something that will allow you to make quick twitches and then absolutely kill it. It is the instant stop/start action you want and a real slow, whippy rod will not allow that.

Maybe $100-150? While I certainly would consider specific recommendations I probably am looking more for ideal specs then I can try to narrow down the options then hunt for a deal.